Ruchi Soya Success Story – India’s Largest Manufacturer of Edible Oil

Ruchi Soya Industries Ltd. is an Indian household brand that has served the people for more than 30 years. It processes oil seeds and then refines the crude oil for its customers. The company is divided into various sections such as seed extracts, vanaspati, oils, food products, wind power generation, and many other products as well. Ruchi Soy exports to various buying houses worldwide such as trading companies, textile mills, etc. The company got acquired by Patanjali Ayurveda in 2019. It is also one of the top 250 consumer products companies in India, as per the reports by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu. So let us get into this article to read the success story of this fantastic company.

Ruchi Soya – Key Highlights

• Company Name – Ruchi Soya
• Founding Year - 1986
• Founder – Dinesh Shahra
• Headquarters – Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India
• Company Type - Private
• Parent Company – Patanjali Ayurveda
• Current CEO – Sanjeev Asthana
• Industry – Food Processing, FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods)
• Revenue – INR 16,382 Cr (approx.)
• Website – www.ruchisoya.com

Ruchi Soya – Founder

Ruchi Soya got founded by Dinesh Shahra in 1986. He is also the MD (Managing Director) of the company. Dinesh is known for his strategic and smart business expertise and he is popular in the industry for iconoclastic management.

His maverick leadership has brought the company this far in this competitive market and made it one of the best FMCG companies in India.

Ruchi Soya – Brand Name, Logo, and Tagline

• Brand Name – The brand name of the company is after the name of a family member and it has not been changed since its inception.
• Logo – The logo of the company is in bright green colour that signifies positivity, balance and growth.
• Tagline – The company’s tagline is – Ruchi Soya Industries Ltd.

Ruchi Soya – Team Members

The valuable team members and key people of the organization are as follows:

• Dinesh Shahra – Founder and MD
• Hemant Bansal – Vice President
• AK Singh – Dy. Manager Supply Chain South
• Amitakshya Chowdhury – National Activation Manager
• Amol Desai – Assistant Manager Finance/ Commercial
• Ashish Jaiswal – Product Manager
• Anudit Purohit – Junior Manager
• Ashwini Kumar – Sr. Manager HRD
• Dilip Taraj – Assistant Manager Legal
• Diwedi Dwivedi – Assistant Manager
• Avinash Agrawal – Manager

Ruchi Soya – Parent Organization

Ruchi Soya had to go through CIR Process (Corporate Insolvency Resolution) in Dec 2017. Its total debt went up to more than INR 12,000 crores.

The company got acquired by Patanjali Ayurveda for INR 4350 crores in Dec 2019.

Ruchi Soya – Products

Ruchi Soya has a variety of food products available in the market. Some of the most popular food products of the company are as follows:

• Soyabean Oil
• Nutrela Oils
• Groundnut Oil
• Nutrela Rice Bran Oil
• Ruchi Gold Mustard Oil
• Nutrela Groundnut Oil
• Sunrich Sunflower Oil
• Nutrela Mustard Oil
• Ruchi Gold Palmolein
• Nutrela Sunflower Oil
• Cottonseed Oil
• Ruchi No. 1 (soap)

Ruchi Soya – Growth

Some of the growth factors of the company are as follows:

• Ruchi Soya is one of the fastest-growing FMCG in India.
• The company produced around 3 million tonnes of oil every year.
• It has more than 6000 wholesalers and 7 lakh retail outlets across India.
• Ruchi Soya has over 13 refinery units that are perfectly maintained.
• The company is one of the most prominent makers of soya foods and edible oils with various nutritional varieties.
• It has one of the biggest palm planting firms in India.
• The company has around 22 production plants that have a total refining capacity of more than 11000 tonnes per day.
• Ruchi Soya’s plants have a packaging capacity of more than 10,000 tonnes per day and a seed crushing capacity of over 11,000 tonnes.

Ruchi Soya – Acquisitions

Ruchi Soya Industries Ltd has also acquired two companies. Both of them are mentioned below.

• Patanjali Biscuit Business
• Gemini Edibles & Fats India Pvt. Ltd.

Ruchi Soya – Funding and Investors

The details of the funding round and investors of the company are as follows:

INR 12.9 B – Funding Round, Alchemy Capital Management, Oman’s Pension Fund, Volrado Ventures, Mar 24, 2022

Ruchi Soya – Challenges Faced

Ruchi Soya had to face some serious challenges. Some of them are as follows:

• Decreased Taxes – The decreased taxes on refined oil exports by the Indonesian govt. impacted the company in many ways. The rise in the pricing of their product led to losing the company’s money. They had to bear the higher expenses and the company’s margin had to face a serious toll.
• Loss on castor oil – This loss impacted the business of Ruchi Soya during those times when the company was already struggling to survive with the rising production expenses. Even though this segment accounted for a small portion of Ruchi Soya but the losses were unbearable.
• Crop Failure – Due to the serious drought that hit the various parts of Indian states, resulted in crop failure. Ruchi Soya has already invested a lot of money in those Agri products and this directly impacted the output of the company.
• Massive Losses – Ruchi Soya had to face back to back losses from various segments of the company. All of these losses and debts accumulated to more than INR 10,000 crores and it continued to rise. Around INR 5000 crore worth of loans were shown as bad debts in the financial statement of the company.
• Competitors – The company also has various competitors in the market and some of them are growing at a good rate as well. Companies like Agro Food Tech, M K Proteins, Raj Oil Mills, JVL Agro Ind, BCL Industries, Rasoya Protein, Vimal Oils, Gokul Agro, KN Agri Res, etc. have the potential to show tremendous growth in future and this might cause a threat to Ruchi Soya.

Ruchi Soya – Future Plans

Ruchi Soya has major upcoming plans for the future. Some of them are as follows:

• The company is looking forward to the goodness that will come out of its partnership with Adani and Wilmar.
• They will be examining the imported network and distribution as well.
• Ruchi Soya will focus on minimising its debt in the coming future.
• It will also increase its profitability and start working on the weaker areas of the business.
• The company will hire new employees in the coming future.
• Ruchi Soya is now back on track and the company will be working on various new strategies and plans.